Clouded Distance

Chapter Twenty

Premonition

When Hana thought back on the day, it felt like a blur. Things had happened all too quickly. They'd competed. They'd won. They were all advancing to Regionals.

Regionals. Hana had never imagined she'd make it this far. She'd hoped beyond hope, but never actually considered she'd actually place first - even if only barely - and earn herself a position in the Regional tournament.

It still felt surreal an hour later, when they were gathered at Iwatobi SC Returns. They'd all decided to eat together, and they didn't have enough money for a restaurant. Hana didn't mind. Just being able to eat with her friends after a reasonably successful and carefree day was enough for her.

Hana's stomach growled when they entered the building and the smell of food hit her. She hadn't realised just how hungry she had been until then - she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch.

Gou lingered behind for a moment, claiming that she had something to do briefly. Everyone else wandered into a room, where a table and food had been spread out.

Hana's jaw hit the floor when she saw the large amount of food laid out on the table. Her stomach twisted painfully.

"This looks so good," Hana moaned.She sat down, and her mouth watered slightly as she did so. It took all of her self control to not devour the food then and there.

The seven of them sat down. "Gou-chan!" Nagisa called. His voice echoed slightly on the tiled walls.

"Coming!" Gou yelled back. They soon heard the sound of feet hitting the ground quickly and soon Gou was back among them. The redhead was all smiles as she took her seat on the table.

"You all swam at full strength today, so you must be hungry," Miss Amakata said, gesturing to the food.

"Aren't we just," Hana muttered under her breath. She reached to get herself a bowl of rice.

"This is quite a selection of carb-heavy foods..." Rei muttered dubiously, eying the selection carefully.

"I made it!" Gou piped up. She raised her hand. "Carbs are great when you have a competition the next day!"

So I probably shouldn't be eating too much of it. Hana shrugged the thought off as quickly as it came. I'm starving; I'm not just going to start being picky!

Well, perhaps she could be picky about one thing on the table. The protein powder stood out like a sore thumb. 

"Protein power again?" Nagisa asked brightly. Hana's stomach churned upon sight of the power, horrid memories of the last time they ate food with protein powder rushing to the forefront of her brain. "Is it strawberry flavour?"

"Not today," Gou said, and Nagisa's shoulders slumped a little. She brought the container closer to the two of them. "But if you want to add some on top..."

"Seriously, don't!" Makoto cried, as Nagisa reached over and took the container. Hana nodded faintly in agreement with Makoto. She was sure that the mere sight of the powder would make her sick. To distract herself, she started to dig into her food. She smiled as she swallowed, the pain in her stomach easing as she consumed the food.

"You're all amazing!" Miss Amakata said as they ate. "To think everyone qualified for regionals!"

Sasabe grinned. "It's because of my great coaching!" he proclaimed, a light laugh to his voice.

"Huh?" Nagisa asked. Hana looked at him and wished she hadn't, because she saw Nagisa tipping endless amount of protein powder on his face. He wasn't paying attention so the mountain of pink powder continued to grow larger, as did the queasiness in Hana's stomach. She leaned over to Haru and buried her head in his shoulder, and he lightly rubbed at her back. "But Goro-chan, you've been so busy with SC Returns, you've hardly shown up all this year."

"It's the quality of my coaching, not the quantity that counts!" Sasabe declared. His tone turned more fond as he said, "Though, more than anything, it's your talent and hard work that got you here." 

"Yep! We can do anything we set our minds to!" Nagisa said. Hana heard choking noises coming from Makoto and Rei and guessed that Nagisa had started eating his meal overflowing with protein powder.

"Nagisa-kun, you're letting our wins get to your head," Rei grumbled once he recovered. "But Haruka-senpai, you were really outstanding today. Impressive as always!"

Hana felt Haru's muscles move as he turned his head to the side. "Not really."

"Come on, Haru," Hana said. She lifted her head from his shoulder to grin at him. "It was impressive. Accept the praise." 

"Agreed," Gou chirped. "You don't often see a time like that."

Haru remained silent. Hana signed to herself and rubbed at her forehead. 

"So all that's left is tomorrow's medley relay?" Sasabe asked, breaking the small tension in the room. "If you keep up today's momentum, I bet you'll beat Samezuka again!"

Ah, yes. The relay. Even though she wasn't in it, Hana was excited. It always gave her a thrill to watch her friends swim in the relay.

Rei adjusted his glasses. "We're finally going to race Rin-san's team in an official match," he muttered. He sounded a little nervous at the prospect.

"Rei, it'll be okay." Haru's voice was quiet, but he instantly held the attention of all people there. "You don't swim a relay alone. It takes a team of four. And with these four, we go could as far as we want."

"Five, actually!" Hana said, thrusting her hand into the air. She grinned. "Count me in, I'll be cheering like hell from the sidelines!"

"Let's go all the way to nationals!"

Nationals. Hana shivered at the word. To think that they might even have the potential to make it all the way to Nationals... It was a daunting prospect, almost impossible to believe.

But her friends could do it. Hana smiled as she rested against Haru's side. She closed her eyes in content.

With her friends, and the bond they had now, she was sure they could make it anywhere. 

* * *

They stayed for a while longer, eating the rest of the food and talking. It was a nice way to wind down after the competition, Hana thought.

When it started to get late, Gou and Sasabe were particuarly insistent on shooing them back to their homes, so they could get sleep to recover from the day's event and prepare fo the relay the next day.

"See you tomorrow!" Hana called, as their little group began to split up.

"Be sure to get lots of sleep tonight!" Gou reminded them.

Hana chuckled. "That shouldn't be a problem!" she called back. She was knackered after the tournament; her tiredness was slowly creeping up on her. 

She, Makoto and Haru split from the others and made their own way home. The longer they walked, the more Hana started to feel uncomfortable. In Iwatobi SC Returns, surrounded by their friends, Hana thought the tension between her two friends from earlier had dissipated. But, unfortunately, it didn't seem to have been forgotten. The silence they walked in was heavy and strained, and neither Makoto nor Haru looked willing to start a conversation. Hana tried a few times to get conversation flowing, but it wasn't working.

Instead of talking, Hana spent most of the walk looking anxiously between her two friends, and wondering what thoughts were circling through their heads.

Hana couldn't have been any more relieved to reach the path that led to their houses. Anything to ease the heavy tension was welcome to her.

"You were amazing today, Haru," Makoto said finaly, once they were just outside his house. "I bet scouts from all over the country will start contacting you."

Haru said nothing; he didn't even turn his head to acknowledge what Makoto had said. Hana glanced between the two of them and furrowed brow furrowed slightly. She had noticed the small tension between them from the moment they began to walk home. She wondered if that had anything to do with their race. 

"If you do get scouted, what will you do?" Makoto continued.

Haru continued to walk forward. "Nothing, probably."

"So you'd decline?"

"It doesn't matter to me whether they contact me or not. I swim because I want to."

Makoto slowed down to a stop. Hana followed suit. 

Haru noticed they'd stopped; he turned around and looked at them questionably. "What?"

But whatever Makoto wanted to say, he didn't. Her friend just shook his head and said. "Nothing. Goodnight Hana, Haru."

"Hey, Makoto -" Hana called, but Makoto had already shut the door.

For a moment, Hana stood there, debating whether or not she should go after him. But Haru was walking again, and Hana quickened her pace to catch up to him. She'd talked to Makoto yesterday. She needed to pay attention to Haru today.

Silence fell between them, neither of them knowing exactly what to say. Hana bit her lip as they walked and glanced at Haru out of the corner of her eye. There was something she wanted to bring up with Haru, it was only how to bring it up was the question. 

Her house was fast approaching. Hana swallowed. Better get this over with. 

"Hey, Haru?" she asked in a murmur.

He looked over at her. "What is it?"

She stopped just in front of her house. He followed suit, and stared at her with his brilliant blue eyes. 

Hana glanced up at Haru through her eyelashes. "You're... you're okay, right?" she asked, her voice quiet. She tripped over her words slightly, having to force the words through her choked-up throat. She was a little nervous to ask it, though she wasn't exactly sure why.

Haru nodded. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

He's lying. I can tell. Something's bothering him - I bet it's to do with Makoto. Hana bit her lip anxiously.

He was expecting an answer, so she quickly blurted, "I'm your girlfriend, am I not? You seemed a little off just then, and I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

There was little distance between them. At her words, Haru embraced her. Hana wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly. She pressed her face into the fabric of his shirt, reassuring herself that he was still okay.

"I'm fine, Hana," he reassured her. His breath ticked her neck.

Hana smiled softly. "That's good." She lifted her head and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before reluctantly disentangling herself from his arms. "I'll see you early tomorrow, then."

He nodded. "Goodnight."

"'Night."

Hana stood there for a moment with her hand resting on the doorknob, watching Haru walk off. She couldn't understand why she still felt so uneasy. Haru said he was fine... but Hana knew him best out of anyone. He didn't exactly act like he was completely fine.

You're probably just overthinking things. It might not be about Makoto, or anything else for that matter. Perhaps it's the relay tomorrow, maybe he's a little nervous about that.

Still not having thoroughly convinced herself, Hana turned and entered her house, ready to turn in for the night.

* * *

It was another early morning the following day. Hana felt a little more relaxed than she was the previous day; she didn't have to worry about racing herself that day.

Like yesterday, Hana got ready quickly and made her way to Haru's house, where she met up with Makoto and Haru. Once they had all met up, they caught the bus to the venue together. Hana was disappointed to find the small tension from the night before hadn't disappeared overnight.

They met up with the others at the venue, but the boys entered through the competitor's enterance alone. Hana walked through with Gou, Sasabe and Miss Amakata, and quickly snagged a place in the stands. The boys joined them soon after.

For the time they were in the stands waiting for the event to take place, Hana felt a high tension in the air. The boys were hardly speaking, and the most tension seemed to be between Haru and Makoto. Hana's stomach twisted nervously. That little unresolved talk they'd had last night and the race swum between both had put tension in their relationship. That strain appeared to have affected Nagisa and Rei too, who were both quieter than usual. Gou was smiles and talk in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working very well. 

Hana didn't know if that strain would be temporary or last for a bit longer, but she did hope it wouldn't affect the results of the relay. 

Before long, it was time for the boys to make their way to marshalling. Hana wished them all good luck, placing a wide smile on her face to cover her nerves.

But as soon as they made their way down the stairs, the smile slowly slipped from Hana's face.

Time dragged on until the loudspeaker finally announced the event was about to take place. The participating teams lined up in front of their respective lanes. Samezuka and Iwatobi would race in adjoining lanes.

Hana bit her lip as she looked at the assembled two teams. Anxious knots twisted in her stomach. What are you so worried about? They'll do fine. They always have done in their relays.  

"I know our boys will pull it off," Miss Amakata said. The whistle blew, and the backstroke swimmers entered the water. "I'm sure they'll do it. There's a famous saying that goes: it isn't the strong who win. It's the winners who are strong."

Quiet fell over the stadium. The swimmers grasped the handles of the starting blocks and got into position. Hana's focus was solely on Makoto in the middle lane. Don't be nervous. Breathe. He did so well yesterday; he defeated both Samezuka swimmers. There's no reason for you to be nervous.

Right?

Even still, Hana couldn't help but feel the slightest little bit nervous. She wasn't sure what it was; perhaps it had been the look on Makoto's face the previous night, or how he had acted this morning.

Their team didn't have the same atmosphere around it that morning. It was different, and not a good different. Something felt wrong, and Hana just couldn't pinpoint what that was exactly.

She could only hope that atmosphere wouldn't affect the team's performance that day.

She sat on the edge of her seat as the marshal called "Ready. Set." She tensed up ever so slightly. They can do this.

Then the whistle sounded, and the swimmers started. But Hana's stomach lurched as she watched Makoto enter the water seconds after the other seven had started.

"He had a late start!" Gou squeaked.

"It's okay!" Miss Amakata said, though rather quickly. "Tachibana-kun can make up for it!"

Sure enough, Makoto soon started to catch up with the other swimmers and started to pass them. Hana's knuckles turned white and she leaned forward more. She couldn't find her voice, and could only watch her friend swim and pray he could do it.

The swimmers all entered the turn, and Makoto was somehow in third. "Makoto's catching up!" Sasabe exclaimed. Makoto passed third and entered second, though he couldn't pass Seijuro's little brother and ended up hitting the board second. This meant that Nagisa entered the water after Samezuka's swimmer.

Nagisa swam his hardest, and continued to hold second, but the gap between him and Samezuka didn't lessen. It stayed resolutely the same, much to Hana's frustration. Come on, Nagisa, you can do it!

Hana had noticed that Nagisa often extended himself at the end of a race, increasing his reach with his arms. That often allowed him to catch up. But, for some reason, it didn't seem to be working today.

"Samezuka's still in the lead at the exchange!" Gou cried as Rei entered the water after Sousuke. Hana watched in awe as the two began their strokes. There was no denying that Sousuke was a talented butterfly swimmer: his stroke was powerful and he started putting ground quickly between him and Rei. "Rei-kun is swimming his hardest to catch up, but Sousuke-kun is just too fast!"

The gap between the two only grew wider; Hana could tell that Sousuke was a highly skilled swimmer. Hana watched them closely and, after the turn, felt her eyes widen. She had noticed that way Sousuke had lost his rhythm briefly nearing the end.

But she had no time to worry about Sousuke for soon all her attention was in Haru when he dived into the water after Rin, and the final leg of the relay began.

Screams were in the air as Rin and Haru battled out the final freestyle leg. They went full-out, knowing neither one had won nor lost yet, and it was still anyone's game.

The others were yelling and Hana's heart was in her throat as the reached the turn, Rin still in the front. She jumped to her feet and leaned over the edge, her hands gripping the railing. 

"Haru!" Hana screamed, somehow managing to find her voice. She cupped her hands over her mouth. "You can do it, Haru!"

That gap between them was closing, closing... Hana's heart was in her throat as she watched Haru continue to decrease the distance between himself and Rin... they were near the finish now, and Haru was so close...

And then Rin's hand slammed against the end, Haru a second after him.

The Samezuka members started to cheer at once, celebrating their team's win. Rin grinned as he clambered out of the pool and was pounced on by his teammates, all of them smiling widely and laughing.

Hana watched on, feeling a little stunned. "We lost..." she breathed. It was the first time she had seen her friends lose at the relay. She slumped back into her seat on the stands, feeling strangely empty. It was weird, watching her friends stand unsurely by the edge of the pool, when for the past year she'd gotten used to the sight of them laughing and embracing each other at the end of the race.

"But at least we made it past the prelims," Sasabe pointed out. "We're through to regionals!"

"I guess we are," Hana murmured.

She just couldn't explain why she felt so unsettled.